It’s exhausting work rearing such willful little dudes, which is one reason this is only my fourth blog of the year. When I get any down time away from the kids and housework, I often end up just collapsing in the sack.

Walking w/ a confident swagger, Gabriel shows off his bed head.

But now that the weather has turned pleasant and we’re spending as much time outdoors as possible, our days haven’t been nearly as madcap as they were beginning to get during those last stir-crazy weeks of winter.

Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• Nearly a month ago, Gabriel and Zeke turned the same age Houston was when they were born: 16 months old. This milestone is a reminder that despite the demands of my career, these precious years are fleeting.
• The twins are such strong and happy boys that it just delights my heart smother them with kisses and receive their firm hugs. Watching them grow into toddlers is truly a joy.

 Zeke doesn’t have to be using the ball tower to appreciate good old-fashioned fun w/ a ball.

• Last weekend, we took a day trip to Shelby for Aunt Hessie’s 100th birthday party and then dinner at Bridge’s BBQ. This was the twins first time dining out at a restaurant. They were amazingly well behaved.
• For about a week now, the boys have been fighting snotty colds, giving them croupy coughs and seemingly endless runny noses.
• When their not sick, all the boys have insatiable appetites, stunning everyone who has the opportunity to feed them. Wish we could put those eating fools to work to help us buy groceries … damn child labor laws.
• Gabriel and Zeke are now climbing our outside stairs. Their other favorite outdoor activities include throwing gravel, checking out parked cars, playing with plastic pots, and messing around with dirt and leaves.

Houston goes for a backyard ride in the Papa-tweaked seeder.

• Houston’s current outdoor thing is collecting rocks and acorns … and pushing down Gabe and Zeke, although the twins are holding their own and fighting back a lot more now that big brother doesn’t seem as big as he used to.
• One of Houston’s fave indoor activities is dressing in his Spidey costume and playing super heroes with Storm (a.k.a. Mommy). Addressing one another by our pretend names is a must, as is Mommy — I mean, Storm — donning her blanket cape.
• Indoor fun for the twins includes building blocks, ball tower, board books, puzzles and ganging up on Houston.
• Zeke is now on a second Rx for reflux. It has helped a bit, but puking still rears its ugly, stinky head on occasion.

Gabriel charges @ Granny w/ the Nerf ball & Zeke experiments w/ a couple of pinwheels.

• Houston’s sleep problems persist, with him often climbing into bed with us due to an array of issues: “bad cats, bad guys, shadows, too dark.” Sometimes we get him back into his bed, sometimes not. It’s hard to be persistent at 4 a.m., but eventually we’ll prevail.
• Houston’s potty training is going great, though. I think he’ll be in big-boy underpants before we know it.
• And last but not least, Houston and Stanley are finally friends.

Click the above photo to view all the February – Part 2 pics and the very top photo to see all the Part 1 shots.

The twins had their 15-month pediatric visit today. (I only have approximate stats because, now that they’ve grown out of their their handy carrier car seats, I was tending to both hyped-up boys and didn’t have any place to restrain the other while measurements were being taken on the one. The nurse helped as much as she could, but it still got a little hairy.) Anyhoo, Gabriel is about 25 pounds and 29 1/2″ long, and Zeke is about 24 pounds and 29 1/4″ long.

The dual occupying force of Gabriel (front) & Zeke protect the fort from invaders.

I discussed Zeke’s acid reflux diagnosis with the doc and noted that even though he’s on Prevacid, he still has either one big puke in the morning or a few dribbles throughout the day. I also mentioned that Zeke typically has about five BMs a day — no kidding — and that he and Gabriel’s breath still ain’t the sweetest, even though I’m brushing them twice a day.

Doc assured me that the major pooping and stinky breath is normal in some kids, but said that perhaps all of these issues are related and I might consider testing out some dietary possibilities, namely doing some food trials for a few weeks to see if Zeke is lactose intolerant. That will take some major preparation as far as grocery shopping and cooking go ’cause we are one dairy-loving family, but I plan to get that underway asap. Plus, Zeke’s gastro-intestinal doc is supposed to call to discuss the diagnostic x-ray he got before Christmas, so hopefully that’ll shed some light on matters, as well.

Donned w/ drool scarf & Daddy’s Astros hat, Gabe’s ready to party.

Houston is still having sleep issues. The very night of my last blog entry, he briefly attempted his hand at an all-nighter again, saying that “Suhs-tuhn dis bed nebber ebber ghent” (translation: Houston will never, ever sleep in this bed again). We actually discovered him up on the changing table with all four of his blankies and every single “friend” (stuffed animal) that was living in his crib at that time; we’re still not quite sure how he pulled that off. Figuring that Houston had finally come to hate his crib, we took Granny’s advice and moved his mattress onto the floor for a couple of nights till Stephen was able to assemble his big-boy bed on 1/9.

Houston’s sleeping has been hit and miss since then, but he has earned back all his toys and privileges, although we still use that stuff as leverage when need be. Sometimes Houston dozes off easily, sometimes he fights it tooth and nail, and other times he just happily hangs out in bed, reading books, talking about super heroes or even reprimanding his stuffed Snoopy by saying, “Shhh, go seep, Soopy” (go to sleep, Snoopy) and then breathing a heavy sigh as if he’s the parent of Joe Cool.

We also moved Houston’s toddler bed into the twins’ room one night, since we only have one cool-mist humidifier and all the kids were fighting colds at the time, but that was short lived. The excitement of sleeping in the same room with “bruv-uhrs” was just too overwhelming for all the boys, and Houston was back in his room soon thereafter. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Houston wonders, “Should I leave Zeke alone or thieve his current favorite toy?”

Even though we’re still dealing with some issues, it’s surprising to me that Houston was so willing to vacate his crib because he always found it to be such a secure and relaxing place. Up until now, he always adored his crib time, going to sleep quite easily, resting for long hours at night and during naps, and usually playing contentedly in the crib even after he had awakened. Goes to show that you can never predict the ways of toddlers.

Toddlers aren’t all infuriating, though. Here are some funny Houston-isms to prove it:

• He notified Lisa during her recent visit that he would “nebber ebber ghent” (never ever again) do the following things: have a time out, eat and pee pee.
• The nah-nah song has morphed into including all sorts of non-human items, such as cookie, coffee, shirt, pee, potty, etc.
• He “reads” his Spidey books aloud while on the potty, in bed and to anyone within ear shot, perfectly describing each page’s super hero and their action.
• He recently notified us on one occasion that he was “fuh-wated” (frustrated) and on another that “Suhs-tuhn need pie-see” (Houston needs privacy). Wow.

Not a shy thief himself, Zeke (right) retains control over his favorite toy & sing-along Elmo.

As previously mentioned, Aunt Lisa did visit for five glorious days. Then Houston spent two nights at Granny and Grumps’ house last weekend, Auntie Merdy dropped by yesterday for a long visit, and Aunt Dina and cousin Kara are coming to see us for two nights this weekend. Thank God we haven’t yet scared too many people away from the zoo and all of its wild inhabitants.

And speaking of wild, Gabriel and Zeke are as boisterous as ever, matching big brother wrestling move for wrestling move. They are two tough cookies and smart, inquisitive little devils to boot!

Click the above “He did it” pic to check out all the January photos.